


Who is the prat?

by Red713



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bisexual Harry Potter, Boys In Love, Explicit Sexual Content, Falling In Love, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Gay Draco Malfoy, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Humor, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Kissing, Lucius Malfoy Being an Asshole, M/M, Mutual Masturbation, My First Fanfic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:27:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24073681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red713/pseuds/Red713
Summary: Draco has gone back to Hogwarts to complete his education, but though he thinks it will be the worst year of his life, there are definitely some improvements and perks to going back. Namely one raven haired boy who may be flirting with Draco.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Pansy Parkinson/Blaise Zabini
Comments: 4
Kudos: 56





	1. Who is the prat?

I didn’t want to go back to the place where he almost died. The place where my best friend died. The place where the world almost changed.

The place where Harry Potter saved my life. Twice.

But after several months I, Draco Malfoy, couldn’t pretend to be miserable anymore. The hate that I had expected to be on the receiving end never came. Yes, sometimes an insult was thrown my way, a whispered “Death Eater scum” heard from a dark corner, but nothing too creative, nothing worth remembering. I didn’t care to remember unoriginal insults; they were far too boring to keep track.

The most surprising change in this new life could be this new acceptance within the 8th year group that had come back. True, not many had bothered – most students had found jobs or apprenticeships, or had travelled abroad. Not everyone wanted to return to the castle haunted by the ghosts of their friends. But mother had insisted I return. With father in prison and the Malfoy name tainted, she said I wasn’t likely to get employed without any NEWTs.

The 8th years had their own common room in their own tower. As we were now considered adults, we each had our own room, we didn’t have a curfew and we were allowed to leave the castle at our leisure – as long as we didn’t leave overnight without notifying the headmistress. 

Our common room had large windows that showed off the magnificent views of the surrounding mountains, and a glorious view of the lake. A large fireplace took half of one wall, and overstuffed armchairs dotted the room, and a large oak table with stiff leather-backed chairs sat by the window. It was here that I was sitting with Hermione one evening, each with all our Ancient Runes books taking over the entire 10-seat table and arguing over the essay translation we were set this morning.

Probably no one was more shocked than myself at his unexpected friendship with Hermione. After our first evening back, I had cornered her and apologised for all my past mistakes – everything from the name calling, to the beaver-teeth incident in fourth year. I half expected her to punch me in my beautiful face again and was already planning my next apology after I jinxed all her hair off, when she flung her arms out and hugged me tight. She said she wanted to start over, and I had agreed. Behind all the forced prejudice that father had planted in my mind about Hermione and muggleborns, there was a witty, compassionate and incredibly smart witch that for years he was too blinded to see. We shared our notes with each other, we did our homework together and soon we shared meals and argued theories for hours at a time. If someone had told me 7 years ago that I would consider Hermione to be one of my best friends, I would have laughed and hexed their pants on fire. 

“Draco can you pass me my dictionary?” Asked Hermione, dragging me from my thoughts.

I wordlessly passed her the dictionary, and she hummed in thanks.

“Fancy seeing you guys here” said a familiar voice.

“Yeah, who would have guessed that we would catch these two doing homework?” Said the ginger accomplice. Grinning, Weasley unceremoniously dropped Hermione’s bag off a chair and sat himself on it. Before she could so much as yell a protest, he gently cupped her cheek and kissed her.

Potter also dropped my bag on the floor, but when I threw an eloquent “twat” at Potter, somehow, did not kiss me quiet. Disappointing. He just smirked at me and leaned forwards.

“So what are you working on?” He asked, as if he hadn’t noticed all the books, scrolls and dictionaries on the table. I could only just stopped myself from rolling my eyes before I met his eyes.

Gods, his eyes.

“We’re just finishing a translation for tomorrow’s lesson. We were nearly done before you rudely interrupted us”, I threw Potter a pointed look, ruined by the small smile I couldn’t stop from appearing. “Where were you, playing Quidditch? You know you’re not allowed on the teams this year, you old fuck.”

Hearing Potter’s barked laughter made me feel lighter, but nothing like when he grabbed my arm in an affectionate squeeze. “No one has said we can’t help our team train though.”

“’Your’ team Potter? Might I remind you that you’re no longer considered a Gryffindor?”

“My blood runs Gryffindor red.”

“Everyone’s blood is red you daft git.” Draco smirked.

“I meant figuratively.”

“Well I meant literally, you literally are a daft git”

“And that’s what you love about me” Potter said, waggling his eyebrows.

I rolled my eyes “of course Potter, there’s nothing I find most attractive in a man that he being an insufferable idiot. It’s clearly the most important quality I need my men to have, gives them better odds at having a shag.”

Potter grinned and held my stare “well at least I know my odds are high.” He murmured.

I held Potter’s stare. I could hear Weasley and Hermione quietly having their 273th daily catch up, so I knew they hadn’t heard my conversation with Potter.

“I’d say so, yeah” I forced myself to murmur back.

Potter’s grin was nothing short of predatory in response.

“Shall we go down for dinner?” Weasley said loudly, breaking my staring competition with Potter. Before I could say I wanted to finish my translation, Hermione had jumped to her feet to follow her boyfriend. And if Hermione was done with homework, everyone was done. So I sighed and got up.

Hermione and Weasley were already halfway to the portrait, but Potter stood waiting for me to catch up. Smiling, I joined him, and together we walked down to the great hall chatting about schoolwork and the latest gossip.

As I helped myself to roast chicken and veggies, I couldn’t help but look up at Potter every so often. It wasn’t that our subtle flirting was anything new – we had been playfully flirting since the beginning of term. But today… he seemed more forward right? Him talking about his odds like that… I mean, of course his odds are high anyway, but Merlin! If he asked me to I would drop to my knees, whenever and wherever he wanted.

I did wonder though, was Potter serious on his flirting or was he having a bit of fun? Was he actually interested in something, or was I clutching wands? It was too easy to imagine him being interested in me, Merlin knows how many nights I fantasised about Potter opening my bedroom door without knocking, closing it behind himself and stopping my shout of indignation with a kiss that left me breathless. Him and I clutching at each other, desperate to get our clothes of, us stumbling to my bed, still touching and grabbing and tasting each other…

He looked up at me and I notice I had been staring at him for a while. He grinned at me “is there something on my face Malfoy?”

Oh fuck it. “You just have a bit of sauce right here” I said, and throwing caution to the wind I leaned towards him without warning and dabbing at an imaginary spot of sauce on his cheek with my napkin. I ran a finger along his jaw as I moved away and made eye contact with him, all the while feeling like the daredevil I truly am. “There you go, now you’re back to pretty” I kind-of joke.

I could swear that he blushed a little, and he almost played it off by exaggeratedly fanning himself. “Malfoy, you sweet talker! Is this how you talk with all the boys or am I just that lucky?” He gave a really exaggerated gasp and threw me a mock glare.

“Oh will you two just make out already!” And darling Pans joined us. She sat next to me and gave me a peck on the cheek, like the Judas she is.

“I thought we were going to be more subtle around them my love? I know they’re dying to shag but we don’t have to make them feel uncomfortable about it.” And with that my other best mate Blaise joined us, proving to me once and for all why I had felt the need to expand my group of friends away from wretched Slytherins. Now don’t get me wrong, I love being (having been?) a Slytherin, but Merlin what a bunch of self-serving twats. I hate my friends.

“I was thinking, do you guys want to go down to the Three Broomsticks? Celebrate the weekend and all.” Weasley suggested the group, nodding his hello to Blaise and Pansy.

“Ron, it’s Wednesday” Hermione snorted.

“I didn’t say it was the weekend, just that we should celebrate it” he knocked his shoulder against hers and she started giggling. Really, what an adorably cute couple, would Potter and I be like that? Gods, I hope not. Though I kind of do if I’m honest. 

“That’s a great idea, you guys know I can’t write a proper Transfiguration paper if I’m not buzzed” Blaise said, making Pansy laugh.

“That sounds great guys, but I need to finish my translation” I said, before popping broccoli in my mouth.

“Not tonight you don’t, tonight we part-ay!” Pansy said, elbowing me sharply so I almost choke to death on broccoli. And what a pathetic way to die that would be.

“She’s right Draco, you don’t need to finish that tonight, it isn’t due until Monday” Hermione helpfully chipped in.

“I’ve got other pieces of homework other than Runes though” I throw the hail Mary.

“No you don’t hun, you finished everything before Runes, remember?” Hermione truly was a deviant and was smiling at me like one.

“Why don’t you want to come Malfoy? You know we’re not going to kill you – probably” Weasley said, laughing at his own terrible joke.

“Nice one Weasley” I rolled my eyes.

“Come on Malfoy, I’m only joking! It’s just one drink-”

“-or three” Blaise interjected.

“And that’s in, you can be tucked in bed by 10 if you want to” Weasley finished.

“Yeah come on grandma, live a little!” Pansy said, pinning my arms by my side in a ferocious hug. “Pleaaaaaaase!”

“OK fine, I’ll go, stop manhandling me woman!” I shove at her until she lets go, smiling triumphantly. “One drink, and I’ll be coming back. I need my beauty sleep, you know that.”

“We do darling, just one drink and we’ll let you off” Pansy agreed.

We all walked up to our common room to get our cloaks and scarves, and traipsed our way to the pub. It was early December, and the snow levels were steadily growing. Forced to walked down the path in twos, I found myself walking next to none other than Potter at the back of the group, his nose looking steadily redder from the cold. It was truly adorable.

“So why don’t you like coming to the pub Malfoy?” He asked me, quietly so he wouldn’t be overheard. His consideration was actually endearing.

“Well… I mean, you know about my history is Rosmerta… it’s uncomfortable, you know.” I replied quietly.

Potter actually stopped walking, so I stopped and watched him, wondering what he was thinking.

“I completely forgot, I’m so sorry” he blurted.

“Don’t worry about it.” I quickly said.

“We don’t need to go to the Three Broomsticks, we could go to the Hogs Head, or even go somewhere else, maybe to the Leaky, or even this place called The Horntail down in Edinburgh, have you been? It’s a really quite nice, and quite nice, or we don’t have to go out at all we could just –“

“Merlin, Potter shut up!” I said, fully grinning. He was so cute when he rambled. Gods, I needed to control myself. “I spoke with Rosmerta over the summer. I apologised, she accepted it, we’re OK, I just feel a bit uncomfortable you know?”

“Yeah, of course.” Potter scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “So… do you still want to come? I’ll buy you a drink?” He said, and he almost sounded hopeful.

“Now that I can do” I replied and grabbing him by the arm we carried on walking to the village, our friends ahead of us and lost in their own couple-world.

As we got to the edge of the village, I realised I hadn’t yet let go of Potter’s arm, so I quickly dropped it. He gave me a quizzical look, and I guess he saw the flush I could feel growing on my cheeks because he grinned at me and didn’t mention it. I quickly asked him how the Quidditch training had gone, and for the rest of the journey he excitedly told me how the Weaslette was managing the team. Even though I knew Potter and the Weaslette were broken up, sometimes I felt a slight twinge of jealousy that only Potter’s flirting could alleviate. I don’t know why, just call me a romantic.

By the time we got to the pub, our friends were already sitting at a round table. Pansy and Hermione both gave me a mischievous look, which I ignored to walk straight to the bar with Potters. He got us each a glass of Firewhiskey, and we turned to sit at our table, and that’s when I noticed that the remaining two empty seats were together. Which explained the mischievous looks. I rolled my eyes and sat on the one next to Blaise, Potter taking the one next to Weasley. 

My self-imposed one drink rule was broken roughly 12 minutes into our outing, with Blaise buying the second round for the table. Hermione and Ron got the round after that, and soon we were sharing stories and gossiping like a bunch of teenagers, talking about what teachers we thought were having an affair with who, and what ghosts were secretly pining one another. Weasley swore that he had seen the Bloody Baron chat up with miserable-looking lady from a painting in the 4th floor corridor, and Potter reduced the table to hooting laughter with how Tomas and Finnigan had been awkwardly caught making out by a scandalised Headmistress McGonagall in a nightgown and waving a mug of hot chocolate indignantly as Peeves made his appearance and starting singing a rude version of A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love by Celestina Warbeck. 

Being the architect of my own self destruction as I am, I ordered a fourth round of drinks. I was happily buzzed by now, listening to Potter, Weasley and Blaise argue about Quidditch and the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw game that was played the previous weekend. Blaise, being the loyal Slytherin that he was, insisted that there was no chance Slytherin would lose the cup with year, and Weasley’s hand gestures were becoming more and more erratic the more he drank and the more indignant he became.

I started drifting back into fantasy land, where Potter and I did unspeakable things in the men’s room when I felt real-life Potter nudge me with his knee under the table. Holding back a happy sigh I looked at him questioningly.

“Do you want to head back? It’s gone 11” he asked me quietly.

“OK let me finish my drink and we can go” I said, smiling at him. I only had about half of my drink left, so I took the only reasonable action I could think of and chugged the thing down. Potter’s quiet chuckle made my stomach flip in a way that all the Firewhiskey I had drunk so far couldn’t. He was looking at me and I felt myself blush. There was something in his eyes, could it possibly be – 

“Right, well we’re off!” Potter stood up abruptly and wrapped his cloak around him. “Have fun kids, see you all at breakfast?”

“You’re leaving?” Weasley smartly deduced. “Give me a second, I need a piss and I’ll come with” he was half rising out of his chair when Hermione grabbed his hand and roughly pulled him back down into his chair.

“See you at breakfast” Hermione said with a smirk, and gave Weasley a sharp look when he seemed inclined to protest.

I gave Blaise a quick hug and Pans a kiss on her cheek, and hurried out after Potter, ignoring Blaise’s and Pansy’s whispered encouragements of something I chose to ignore.

Potter held the door open for me, so chivalrous of him, and together we started walking back to the castle. I noticed that he walked a lot slower than usual, normally he practically jogged everywhere, I guess because he felt his saviour instincts kick in? I don’t know, but who was I to complain about spending more time alone with him?!

We were both quiet for a while, though it wasn’t entirely uncomfortable. I had the distinct feeling that he wanted to say something, but I didn’t pressure him. It was hard to ignore my base, Slytherin instincts to nag him until he spilt all his secrets.

Those instincts couldn’t be ignored for long.

“So why did you and Weaslette break up then?” I blurted without meaning to.

You would think that I had stabbed Potter if you heard the gasp he let out. I had no idea what he was thinking, but her suddenly turned beet red.

“Er, you know, we realised that we were looking for… er, different things” he mumbled, not quite looking me in the eyes as I stared at him.

“And what kind of ‘different things’ were you looking for?”

“Well… it turned out that neither of us were as, I guess, straight as we thought we were, you know.”

My stomach did a funny leap at hearing that. “My my, Potter! You are full of surprises! I did not know that!”

“Well it’s not like I’m parading it am I? I don’t even know what I am, and I don’t really need the Prophet to start reporting my shit like that!”

“Wait what do you mean you don’t know what you are? You’re Potter for Merlin’s sake.”

“I mean I don’t know if I am gay.” He mumbled quietly. He seemed quite dejected, which actually pissed me off a bit.

“And that’s bad how?!” Even I could tell I sounded rude.

“I’m not saying it’s bad” he frowned at me. “Just confusing you know? I like girls, since always, but I think I like guys too, or at least one and, I don’t know, it’s so confusing. I never really had a chance to think of stuff like that you know, thanks to a bat-shit crazy fucker I never had a normal childhood or time to even think about these things, and now there’s this infuriating, annoying prat who I can’t stop thinking about, and all I know is that I’m not sure what to do about it or how to know if he likes me back.”

In his frustration his pace picked up, and I hurried after him to keep pace.

“Just slow down Potter, fuck I’m sorry I didn’t mean to fucking insult you”

Potter abruptly stopped and I nearly tripped into him. He grabbed my arm, softer than I would have expected and looked straight into my eyes.

“I know you didn’t, sorry. I’m just confused and trying to make sense of everything.”

“I get it, I mean I’ve been there too” I looked at him sheepishly. “I’m gay, and I agree it’s definitely weird when you first start figuring it out. Everyone always talks about love and shit like it belongs only between a man and a woman, there’s no fairy tales of men falling in love.” Did I sound bitter? Merlin I fucking hoped not.

He looked at me a while longer and then turned to carry on walking to the castle, keeping that slow pace from before.

“I know what you mean” he finally said after a while, looking at the ground as he walked. “You know, before I came to Hogwarts, I went to a muggle primary school, and there was this kid who everyone thought was gay, I think his name was Mike. Anyways, he used to get picked on quite a bit in school. Other kids would call him ‘fag’, they would throw things at him and just torment him. My cousin Dudley was awful to him, and he would tell my uncle about the ‘pranks’ he would play on Mike. And my stupid uncle would encourage him! He would laugh at Dudley’s bullying, he used to say that ‘homos shouldn’t be allowed in public’ and that they got what they deserved.” He sounded so sad and bitter it broke my heart.

“Harry…” his eyes snapped up to mine. “Harry that’s… so horrible. What happened to Mike?”

He gulped and looked back to the ground. “He’s parents pulled him out of class. I don’t know where he went, I just hope he’s happy wherever he is.”

I smiled fondly at him, of course he would wish happiness to a stranger. “I hope he is too.”

He smiled at me and we continued walking in silence for a while. Our hands brushed together and I wanted to grab his hand and never let go.

“Do your parents know?” He asked me quietly, bursting my happy bubble.

“They do.” I said, rather sharply. He looked at me again.

“How did they react?” He asked quietly. I met his eyes and knew that if I didn’t want to say, he wouldn’t pressure me to tell him. I just knew that I could never speak about it again and he would never question it, and that made me feel safer and freer than I ever had before.

“They… don’t understand.” I gulped a bit too loudly for my liking. “Mother took it better I think, but father… he’s not impressed.” I didn’t think I could continue.

Potter finally gabbed my hand, and laced his fingers with mine without saying a word. It gave me the strength I needed to carry on talking.

“Father made it very clear that my unnatural tendencies, as he put it, should not get in the way of me fulfilling my duty. He said that under no circumstances am I allowed to pursue any unnatural relationships, and he has vowed to find me a wife by the summer. He believes he can ‘cure’ me, you see.” My throat started burning and I stopped myself from talking so I wouldn’t cry. 

Harry stopped walking again, and held my hand firmly so I would stop. He looked at me, and pulled me into a strong hug. I couldn’t stop the tears from falling then, so I hugged Harry and buried my face in his neck so he wouldn’t see.

I don’t know how long we stood there hugging. All that mattered was that Harry held me with an arm around my waist and a hand on my neck. We didn’t say a word, just stood there hugging until my tears ran dry and then stopped. 

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to Draco” he whispered suddenly. “You don’t owe anything to anyone. You don’t need to do anything you don’t want to do.” He repeated himself, almost as if he was trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince me. I held him tighter to me, burying my nose in his scarf and inhaling his scent.

It was when I noticed my fingers going numb with the cold that I realised we had been standing together for several minutes in silence. We both detangled from each other at the same time and, without talking, we turned to walk to the castle at the same time. I don’t know who reached out to whom first, but we held each other’s hand as we walked back. We stayed quiet all the way back to our common room, and when the portrait opened, I was relieved to not see anyone up. It wasn’t that I was ashamed of walking hand-in-hand with Harry, fuck no. I just wanted to treasure it for a while longer by myself. 

Silently we made our way to the boy’s dormitories. My room was further down the hall, past Harry’s, but once we reached his room, he made no move to let go of my hand until we reached my own room. We stopped walking when we got to my door, and turned to face each other. I wasn’t yet ready to let him go.

I broke the silence. “Earlier you mentioned that there was a prat that you couldn’t stop thinking about” I whispered to him – no one else needed to hear this.

He smiled at me “I believe I did, yes.”

I smiled back. “May I ask who is the prat?”

He grinned at me and leaned closer to me. I couldn’t look away from his eyes, the whole world had turned emerald green.

“I think you already know” he whispered. He kissed my cheek tenderly, stroked a lock of hair from my forehead and stepped away.

“Goodnight Draco” he said, and turned back down the hall to his own room. When he got to his door, he looked back at me and smiled, before he opened and closed the door behind me.


	2. Midnight visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco can't stop thinking of Harry's last words to him and goes to his room for a chat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it took me a while to wrap my head around this chapter and honestly I'm not 100% sure about it, but hey! Let me know what your thoughts are :)

I think you already know.

Fuck.

I stared looking towards Harry’s door for a while before I turned to my own room and locked myself inside. All I could think of was the look in his eyes when he said those words.

I think you already know.

Could it be? Could I possibly be that insanely lucky?

I almost strangled myself when I tried ripping my scarf off. Coughing madly, I took off my cloak and went to my window ledge to get a glass of water. I gulped it down, thinking of Harry, and wondering what he was thinking of right now, hoping that it was me. And wait a second, when did he turn into Harry? Merlin’s balls, what a weird night.

I got changed into my pyjamas and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I kept hoping that Harry would turn up to brush his teeth or shower or something, but after a while I couldn’t find any other reason to stay in the bathroom. I even flossed whilst waiting for him for fuck’s sake, and the muggle way! How time consuming.

I made my way back to my room and got into bed, even though I knew I wouldn’t be sleeping any time soon. All I thought about was Harry, his touch, his hugs, that kiss. The way he looked at me, how he smiled. 

I thought back to all the times we had flirted before, all the looks he had ever given me. I was past pretending I didn’t have a crush on Harry, even Pansy and Blaise knew about it – though little escaped their notice to be fair. 

He remembered when earlier at the pub, Harry had whispered to Draco if he wanted to head back, just to him. And before that, when we had walked together to the village. Did Harry hang back on purpose to walk with me? Or was I really desperate enough to hope so? I smothered my face in my pillow. I definitely was a bit drunk, but clearly not drunk enough to stop thinking.

I wondered if Harry was drunk enough to not think about me.

At some point after midnight I heard Pansy’s giggling – clearly the group was back from the pub, and by the sound of it the couples hadn’t separated to each of their dorms.

“Do you think they’ve done it?” Pansy whispered to someone.

“Merlin, I hope so” was that Hermione? “I was close to locking them both into a room until they talked, Harry has been pining since the start of term.”

“Shhh they might hear you” Weasley whispered. “Goodnight you two, be good.” He said, presumably to Blaise and Pansy, who both snorted.

“Goodnight Weasley” Blaise said, and the door to the room next to mine opened and closed. 

Too soon I heard some horribly noises from next door. Seriously, they may be smart, but my two best friends either didn’t know any privacy spells, or never bothered to use them. I really, really hoped it was the former – I couldn’t bear knowing that they didn’t use them on purpose.

Straight people are revolting.

But also, straight people got me thinking. A bushy haired one in particular. Was it true what she said about Harry pining?

Sleep clearly wasn’t a priority in my life anymore. I couldn’t take it, I just had to know for sure. How would I sleep without knowing what Harry was thinking?

I got out of bed and pressed my ear against the door to the hall. Silence.

Quietly, I opened the door and looked out. Coast was clear.

I grabbed my wand and padded over to Harry’s room and pressed an ear to his door. Silence too. The bastard better not be sleeping.

Now, to knock or not to knock? Knocking could be loud, it might invite certain nosey arseholes where they don’t belong. But what if Harry didn’t appreciate midnight visitors? What if he was asleep – or worse, what if he was doing something that he didn’t want to be walked in on? But more importantly, did I really care if I walked in on Harry, presumably, naked? Or wanking? I guess I could pretend to be horrified.

Hoping for a glimpse of his cock, I grabbed the doorknob (oh my god, knob) and quickly opened the door before I could talk myself out of it. I looked into the room and saw that the curtains were wide open, and the moonlight was streaming in, straight to Harry’s bed. Where Harry sat up, looking straight at me.

“About time” he said, and fucking smiled at me.

I stood still for a second and just took him in. He actually was shirtless, so there still was hope that I would see the glorious bastard naked, but what really did it for me was the way he looked at me. Yep, that definitely was lust in his eyes. My heart fluttered.

“Can you come in already, Merlin it’s cold out there” he smiled at me as I quickly went into the room and closed the door behind me, a bit too loudly, my brain helpfully let me know. I stood by the door, still staring at him, not knowing what to do.

“Would you like a cup of tea?” He asked suddenly, and not really knowing what I was agreeing to, I nodded my head.

He got out of bed and a pang went through my groin as I saw his boxers cling tightly to his arse. He walked to his desk and prepared us both cups of tea whilst I stood by the door still, drinking in the sight of him.

I knew he would be fit, of course I did how could Harry Potter not be fit, but – wow. There was a difference between my imagination and the pure, unadulterated reality of his perfect body, which looked like it had been sculpted from marble. His back was wide and muscled, his shoulders looked strong and gave me the feeling he could easily pick me up and toss me around. His legs were beautifully defined, and looked to be made of solid muscle and his arse – fuck, that arse – I wanted to bury myself in it and never leave.

My mind went back to a time during the summer holiday that I snuck out of the Manor to go to London by myself. I wanted to get away from the drama, leave the trials behind and get away from father for one afternoon. I had gone to muggle London, and visited the British Museum and for hours I had wondered round looking at all the different ancient art pieces and the history behind them. I had ended up in front of The Discobolus, an ancient Roman statue of an athlete throwing a discus. I read its story, oh how a man called Hyacinth was accidentally killed by a discus thrown by his lover Apollo. I had stared for a long time at the statue and thought of the story it represented, the pain Apollo must have felt at accidentally killing his lover.

Harry turning around knocked me out of my thoughts, and he passed me a cup of tea. I sipped it and groaned – it was perfect.

“How do you know how I take my tea?” I asked with surprise.

I saw him smile faintly as he picked up his own cup and took a sip. “I just know, Draco.”

We stood in silence for a while, drinking our tea and stealing glances at each other. If I wasn’t so nervous it would have been rather cute.

Cute. Gods, was I really that sappy?

Harry turned and walked back to his bed, and sat himself near the headboard. Putting his cup down on the bedside table, he pulled the covers up to cover his legs. He looked at me almost expectantly and said “would you like to sit?”

I gulped and looked around. In normal circumstances I would have sat on his desk chair, but that had been long buried in what looked like half of Harry’s wardrobe. There were no other chairs, and I didn’t bother looking for any other excuses before I sat on the foot of Harry’s bed, facing him.

We looked at each other for a while, and I honestly could barely even remember why I had come to see Harry. 10 minutes ago it seemed imperative that I come to see him, but by then my mouth was dry and my mind blank.

Still, he smiled at me like he knew what I was thinking. And of course I smiled back, how could I not when he looked at me like this.

“So, Draco, to what do I owe this midnight pleasure?” he finally said, breaking the silence.

I gulped. “I… don’t know.”

His eyebrow popped up slightly in surprise. “Oh?”

We sat in silence again. Merlin, what was I thinking, coming here at midnight and just staring at Harry like a fucking weirdo? I was about to get up and run to my room when he reached over and grabbed my hand.

“Is there something you want to talk about?” He asked quietly.

Fuck no. “Yeah, sure.” 

Harry scoffed and squeezed my hand affectionately. “So what would you like to talk about then?” He asked.

“You” I blurted. I took a hasty sip of tea and coughed to avoid choking to death. “I mean you got to hear about my pitiful coming-out story, it’s only fair that I hear yours.”

“That would be fair” he agreed.

“Indeed. Can’t discount any blackmail material.” I gave him my most Malfoy-ish smirk I could muster and he laughed.

“Well of course that makes sense” he chortled. “But OK. What do you want to know?” 

I didn’t think I would get this far so I asked the first thing that came to mind. “You mentioned that both you and the Weaslette weren’t straight, is that true?”

He seemed a bit uncomfortable at the question, so I quickly backtracked. “No don’t say, this is clearly not appropriate, just forget I came here…”

I half rose off his bed, but his hand tightened on mine and pulled me back. “No, it’s OK Draco, I just don’t want to talk about Ginny, it’s not my place to out her.”

I sat back down but didn’t meet his searching eyes. “I understand, we really don’t have to talk about this.”

“But I want to” he said quickly. “I mean, I’ve only talked about this with Ginny, Hermione and Ron, and they’re great but… well, they won’t understand as much as you, I guess.”

“And why’s that? Because I’m gay?” I gave him my Malfoy smirk again and he actually giggled.

“Well, yeah.” He seemed to blush a bit, and seeing Harry both giggle and blush did things to my stomach that made me feel both sick and elated. “So ask away!”

“OK, so… when did you first notice?”

He finally took his hand away from mine and I immediately missed the warmth. “Over the summer” he replied. “After the trials and everything life was so… overwhelming, you know? The media was practically stalking me, fans followed me everywhere. But for the first time I felt free, there wasn’t a freak trying to kill me for the first time in my life and I felt for the first time that I could actually breathe. So I started going out with my friends, we would Apparate to different towns and just go out for the day, or for dinner or clubbing. One night a few of us went clubbing to Manchester, and that was the first time I ever made out with a man.”

“The first time? So how many men have there been Potter?” I teased him, hoping my jealousy didn’t show through.

He laughed and blushed. “Yes, well, he really was the only guy I’ve been with. And I don’t mean been with, like in that way you know? Er, yeah, we just kissed.” He was scratching the back of his head, clearly uncomfortable and I felt rather bad for wanting to know literally everything else.

“So you kissed a bloke, that’s it?” I asked, really quite amused at the glare I got from him. “That’s great.”

“Great, Malfoy?” He scoffed. “It actually kind of was great” he said with a wink.

I rolled my eyes at him. “So you kissed one bloke and you’re having a whole big gay-crisis over it?”

He looked at me and I could tell he was trying to gather his thoughts about the whole thing before he spoke. “Yeah, I just kissed a guy, but it was all I could think about for the rest of the summer. Every club we went to I was looking for that bloke, even though I knew I’d probably never see him again or he wouldn’t even remember me.”

I frowned a bit at that last part, who wouldn’t remember snogging the Saviour himself? “Was the bloke a muggle?”

“Yeah he was, we only went out to muggle clubs, cause you know, all the media thing. None of us felt comfortable being followed around by journalists and photographers.” 

Boy, did I understand. “I know what you mean” I blurted before I realised.

He looked at me like he knew I was telling the truth. “So how was your summer?”

I groaned out and stayed silent, shutting my eyes for a few seconds. When I opened them I saw Harry looking at me, but staying silent. I appreciated the fact that he didn’t pressure me to talk, it was a tough subject. I sat up and moved to sit next to him, and leant against the headboard – the idea of looking into the eyes that pulled me out of that fire would be too much.

And then I started talking. Quietly, I told him what it had been like, being arrested the day after the Battle of Hogwarts with both my parents, being held alone in the Ministry holding cells those few days until my charges were read out to me. Being placed under home arrest with my parents, my mother who was so calm and composed, but my father raging about the injustice of him being arrested. I told Harry what I had told no one, that seeing my father complaining at the audacity of the Ministry, and hearing his threats yelled out through the Manor, had made me finally lose my faith in my father. I told him how my father proved he felt no remorse at what he had done over the years, so when the trials came, and father was sentenced to life in prison I felt relief at finally being away from him.

I told Harry about my life after my mother and I had been cleared of all charges, how he didn’t feel safe walking outside by himself. Quietly, I told him about that time I had gone to Diagon Alley by myself to get a set of books I had been dying to read, only to be surrounding by what I could only describe as a mob, who ambushed me, surrounded me and yelled insults and threats. I admitted to Harry what I had refused to explain to my mother, the reasons why my chest and back had been covered in bruises and half-healed cuts for weeks because one of my attackers knew a spell that would slow the healing.

Harry sat quietly whilst I talked, simply listening to me and nodding to show he was paying attention. He did not interrupt me, but when the incident at Diagon Alley came up he gripped my hand so hard it almost hurt. I whispered how scared I was at the idea of leaving the Manor, and how I had begged my mother to stay home when she had insinuated us having a day trip to London for some shopping. At this, Harry reached his arm around me, and tucked me close to him in what felt like the warmest hug I had ever gotten.

I didn’t know why I felt so comfortable talking with Harry, especially considering I hadn’t told anyone about my summer, not even my best friends. But Harry… I guess I believed he understood me better than most. He knew what it was like to be hounded and judged by the press – I remembered what had happened in fourth and fifth year. Harry understood what it was like to be hated by the public, and knowing that helped me open myself to him.

After a while I noticed I’d fallen silent, but Harry didn’t pressure me to talk. I felt lighter than I had felt in a long time, with a jolt I realised I hadn’t truly felt at ease since fourth year.

My jolt must have stirred Harry as he squeezed me gently and said “thank you for sharing that with me Draco.”

I smiled at that. “Thank you for letting me rant, Potter.”

He huffed a laugh “have you been bottling that one in all this time?” He asked gently. I nodded slightly at him and he squeezed his arm around me again. It really felt nice.

We sat like that in silence for a while, and I was pleased to notice it wasn’t awkward at all. But then I started thinking about the reason why I came to Harry’s room in the first place and I tensed slightly.

Clearly Harry noticed that and asked “are you ok Draco?”

“Yes I’m fine… better than fine actually. Thank you again for listening.”

“That’s ok, anytime” he said smiling. “Though maybe next time it can wait ‘till morning?” He joked – or at least I hoped.

I elbowed him in the ribs, and his arm flew off my shoulder to protect his sides. “And here I thought you craved my company at all times!” I kind-of joked back.

He just laughed out loud, and the sound did something funny to my stomach. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t hoped for any midnight visits from you before.” He sounded casual, but the blush that appeared on his cheeks betrayed him.

“So you’ve been waiting all this time for me to come along?” I really hoped I sounded as casual as him.

He looked straight into my eyes. Damn these Gryffindors. “I really have Draco, but under different circumstances if I’m honest.” He scratched the back of his neck off-handily. “Though I’m glad we had this chat, I feel like I know you better already.”

His hand was resting tantalisingly close on his knee. Before I could think about it too much, I grabbed it in my hand. “I feel the same.”

We locked gazes and for a while we just stared into each other’s eyes. I felt like I was floating, yet tethered to this bed by his emerald eyes.

I reached towards his face to stroke a lock of hair off his forehead. He gasped as 

“Draco…” he whispered.

“I really like you Harry” I whispered in a fit of bravery that I never knew I had.

His smile was so pure my throat started burning. “I like you too Draco.” He whispered back to me. He moved his other hand to the nape of my neck and pulled my face to his. “I really like you, have been for a while.”

I couldn’t help but offer him my most radiant smile.

I still don’t know who was the first to move, or if we simply couldn’t help the obvious attraction between us, but the next thing I knew his wonderfully soft lips were on mine and I felt like I was flying. He grazed his tongue against my lips and I gasped in surprise. He took that opportunity to let his tongue into my mouth and grazed mine softly.

I groaned at the touch and fisted his hair in my fist, and started kissing him like I had never kissed anyone. He tugged me towards him and a second later I was straddling him and pouring myself into our kiss. When he separated from me gasping I started kissing him along his jaw – nipping, biting and licking my way down his throat. His hands flew to my hips and grabbed my arse cheeks and squeezed and I couldn’t help the mewl that escaped my throat.

I went back to those delicious lips and licked my way into his mouth again as we started slowly grinding together. My cock was achingly hard and protesting against my pants, but feeling Harry’s hardness against my hip made it all worth it. I broke our kiss just to sit up against him. I stared into his face as I re-positioned myself against him so we were perfectly lined up, and watched him groan deeply as his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

Gripping his head I delved back into a messy kiss, and slowly started grinding against him. His grip on my hips tightened and I couldn’t help the needy noises coming out of my mouth. With a particularly loud groan I tilted my head backwards and Harry’s lips immediately went to my throat.

I ground myself harder against Harry and whimpered with need. He licked his way to my ear and tugged the lobe with his teeth, gently soothing it with his tongue. “Gods Draco… you’re beautiful, so beautiful…” I moaned and gripped his hair tighter still, keeping him there. “You feel amazing, I need you, I want you so bad…”

His words were my undoing. I buried my face in his glorious hair and came. The orgasm hit me so hard I’m sure I blacked out, but I could hear Harry groaning my name as he came too.

Next thing I knew I was laying on top of Harry, both of us panting and neither letting go of the other. It was a while before I truly noticed the mess in my pants and how uncomfortable it was becoming and looking down I saw that Harry was in the same situation. I flicked my wrist and both of us were instantly clean.

Harry moaned at the brush of magic and tightened his grip on me. I couldn’t move even if I wanted to, and why the fuck would I move? I felt like I was literally in heaven.

Held in the warmth of Harry’s arms and listening to his breath as it steadied I was lulled into sleep.


	3. Graceful, Malfoy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco has a very eventful morning-after

I dreamt of summer days spent splashing in the shore of the great lake with Pansy and Blaise, kicking water at each other and tickling the giant squid’s tentacles. Suddenly one of those tentacles grabbed me and squeezed me so hard I nearly forgot to breathe.

I woke with a start, soaked, gasping for breath and indeed surrounded by tentacles. It took me a few seconds to notice those tentacles were actually Harry’s limbs and that I was drenched in sweat. A while after that the memories of what happened a few hours before flooded my brain, the rush of emotions making me shudder.

I quickly checked that Harry was still sleeping, undisturbed by me. A quick Tempus told me it was nearly 6 in the morning, though the moonlight coming from the window distracted from the soon-to-come daybreak. As I waited for my heartrate to calm down I took my time in studying Harry’s sleeping form.

We were laying on our sides face to face, one of my arms slung over his waist. Harry’s face was just a few inches away from my neck, as if he had been sleeping with his face tucked there. One of his legs was between my own, the other flung around my hips, and both his arms were around my waist and clinging to me like Devil’s Snare. The bed covers were half-off the bed, and whereas I had sweated through my pyjamas, Harry was still in his boxers and his skin felt cold to the touch.

Trying my best to not wake Harry, I Banished my pyjamas off of myself, opting to stay in my boxers too – if he was in his I might as well be comfortable, right? The brush of magic seemed to make him shiver, and I froze for a few seconds to make sure he hadn’t woken up. When all he did was snuggle me tighter, I held my breath and cast a gentle cleaning charm over my sweaty body. I watched in awe as Harry groaned slightly and slid even close to me.

Oh Gods, he was just adorable.

I summoned the blankets up to cover us both and gripped Harry close to me. I laid my face on his head and dropped a gentle kiss on his head, and let myself drift off back to sleep.

***

A loud pounding on the door rudely woke me up again.

“HARRY! You’re going to be late for class! Wake up!” Weasley was pounding at the door so hard it was a wonder it was still held on by the hinges.

Harry jumped so hard he fell out of bed tangled in his sheet and I couldn’t help the guffaw that slipped out.

“Graceful, Potter” I couldn’t help but tease.

It seemed to take Harry a few seconds to process the scene – me, almost naked, in his bed and laughing at him. The loud pounding at the door, he himself tangled in sheets, lying on the floor with a foot still in bed.

“Harry are you up already?! Let me in!” Weasley carried on with his foolish endeavour to break the door down.

“For fuck’s sake Ron I can hear you!” Harry yelled back. “I’ll be out in a second!”

Another voice was talking in the hallway, not whispering but talking quickly to Weasley. “For Gods’ sake Ronald you’ll disturb the whole castle! Harry!” She clearly moved closer to the door. “We’re going to class, see you there.”

Their footsteps finally faded, and I was left behind in an awkward silence with Harry.

We looked at each other.

“Er, I guess I’ll see you later?” I mumbled, finally getting off the bed and moving to grab my clothes to leave.

“Wait, Draco.” Harry struggled to get up, but finally freed himself from his sheets. He walked up to me and stood in front of me, roughly a foot away. “I… had a nice night with you.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Can I meet with you later?”

I scoffed slightly and tried to hide my smile “We’ll be seeing each other soon, we’ve got Charms in…” I cast a quick Tempus and swore. “2 minutes, fuck I need to go.” I ran out of the door, forgetting to put any clothes on and went to my room, leaving Harry with his mouth hanging open.

About 6 minutes later I skidded in front of the Charms classroom and burst in through the door. Everyone turned to look at me, so I awkwardly mumbled an apology and went straight to the back of the class. I could hear my classmates snickering and I glanced at the desk where Harry normally sat and he beamed at me, motioning to the empty desk next to him. I hurried over and dived to the seat, hoping to hide my embarrassment as quickly as possible behind my textbook.

“Graceful, Malfoy” he snickered at me.

“Shut up” I mumbled back, though with no real bite. He shook with restrained laughter as Flitwick started talking about whatever the class was going to be about.

“That was quite the dramatic entrance you made” he whispered at me, giggling madly. “And a dramatic exit too, actually.”

I turned to look at him so quick I could feel a pop in my neck. I hadn’t had time to consider how awful it would have been for him to watch me bolt out of his room, and I suddenly worried what his reaction would be.

I needn’t have worried though, his eyes glinted with amusement and he winked at me when I felt my flush extend to my ears.

“I’m sorry about that” I mumbled. “I didn’t want to get into trouble.”

“Being a few minutes late to class won’t get you into much trouble.” He nudged my side and I flushed even more.

“Maybe you wouldn’t, but I might” I whispered back. My mood dipped slightly at the realisation.

He seemed to notice that. His hand went to my thigh and he squeezed it reassuringly before he grabbed my hand. “The teachers aren’t like that, you know” he whispered at me reassuringly.

I swallowed down the thickness in my throat and pushed the thought out of my mind for now. Without letting go of Harry’s hand, I got my textbook and parchment out and started taking some notes for class. We worked silently for a while until Flitwick announced that we should start the practical test.

Everyone was only too happy to comply – our task was to have a fountain of wine sprout from our wands. The glee from my classmates was very palpable, and I spotted Blaise conjuring two goblets out of thin air for himself and Pansy before Flitwick went over to tell them off.

Whilst Harry was obviously a very powerful wizard, he lacked the delicate control needed for these types of spells. It did not surprise me at all when he finally managed to conjure a fountain, though it sprouted ketchup instead of wine.

I burst out laughing so loud that for the second time I held all the attention of the class, which inadvertently put it on Harry. He laughed along with me, the delight on his face so endearing.

It felt only natural that Weasley would come over to sample the ketchup, which he gave his approval to. However, Flitwick was not very impressed when Weasley suggested we set up a picnic in the middle of class, apparently that wasn’t part of the curriculum.

“It’s your turn, Malfoy” Harry teased at me.

I gave him a patented Malfoy glare and rolled up my sleeves. “Watch and learn Potter.”

“Oh, I’m watching” he said with a smirk. “Don’t think there’s anything to learn from you though.”

I gave him a wicked look. “There’s a lot you could learn from me actually.”

“Dreadful things I suppose.”

“The worst.” I winked at him.

He blushed slightly but rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. “I don’t know how many more dreadful things I can handle.” He said, sounding like the drama queen he really was.

I cocked my head and leered at him. “Oh really? Are you scared, Potter?”

I imagine he remembered the same thing I did because he let out an unexpected bark of laughter. “You wish.”

I grabbed at my collar dramatically, pretending to clutch my pearls. “You wound me Potter!”

“I don’t see either of you boys practicing!” Said a high-pitched voice right behind me, and in my surprise I almost crushed little Professor Flitwick. “Careful Mr Malfoy, 10 points from Slytherin!”

Harry guffawed behind me as I straightened with indignation. “But Sir, I’m no longer part of Slytherin.”

Flitwick waved away this seemingly petty complaint. “Please try the charm Mr Malfoy.”

I could practically feel the giggles coming from Harry. I waved my wand and uttered the charm and a majestic fountain erupted from my wand on my first try. Without speaking, Flitwick summoned a goblet from a cabinet and sampled the wine. 

Tense, I watched as he did the whole wine-sampling regalia, and I couldn’t help by feel aggravated that I was the first student to get such a thorough testing. He stirred the wine in the goblet, sniffed it and then took a careful sip. I saw his eyes widen in shock as he quickly took a rather large gulp, almost as if he hoped that no one noticed the Professor drinking on the job.

“My, my Mr Malfoy, you certainly have good taste! Of course, this spell can recognise the caster’s drinking preferences and casts accordingly. May I ask, what wine is this?” 

I couldn’t help but smile. “It’s a vintage Bordeaux, from France. My mother’s favourite too.”

Flitwick carefully ‘sampled’ the wine again. “Well Mr Malfoy, I am impressed! 10 points to Slytherin!”

“But Professor, he’s no longer part of Slytherin!” Harry dared to say.

I rolled my eyes, clearly my former house losing points wasn’t an issue for Harry.

“Nonsense, Mr Potter. You can take the boy out of Slytherin, but you can’t take Slytherin out of the boy.” Flitwick beamed at me. “Mr Malfoy, would you be so kind as to help Mr Potter with the charm? He could do with your expertise.”

He turned to speak to Thomas and Finnigan, one of whom had somehow managed to conjure a tap-dancing fountain – though not before quickly refilling his goblet with my wine. With an almost-painful grin I turned back to Harry, who was staring at Flitwick’s retreating figure.

“So, Potter, you still don’t like it when Slytherin beats Gryffindor?” I asked cockily, looking at my nails as if I was above this conversation.

“I don’t know Malfoy, can’t say I have much experience in losing to Slytherin.”

I glared at Harry. We stared at each other for exactly 3 seconds before we both burst out laughing.

We spent the remainder of the lesson practising, me calmly explaining exactly how to do the spell, him trying his best whilst his attention held and eventually managing to conjure a vinegar fountain. My fountain was popular amongst both the students and Flitwick, and when the bell rang for break, I was pleasantly tipsy.

Harry and I walked with Weasley, Hermione, Pansy and Blaise, all of us definitely louder than usual and prone to giggles. We made our way to the courtyard without any incident, beyond Blaise and Pansy both flirting with a very attractive man in a painting from the 1600s. Though he was very flattered, the rest of us thought it prudent not to let those sorts of feelings fester. I grabbed a giggling Pansy and pulled her away as she pouted and blew kisses at the portrait.

We finally made it to the courtyard where we got into a heated discussion of the realities of dating paintings when Harry tugged my arm to call my attention. I looked at him and he discretely cocked his head to the side, signalling a more secluded alcove where we could easily hide. I followed him there.

Once hidden, Harry grabbed my face and gave me a heated kiss. I clung to his hips to stop myself from falling if my knees collapsed and gave as good as I got. Our tongues wrestled in each other’s mouths, teeth nibbling at lips and moans being drowned by the other.

We separated a few minutes later to gasp for breath, still clinging as if neither of us ever wanted to separate.

“I’ve been wanting to do that all morning” Harry whispered against my mouth, lips moving gently against mine. We launched into a fresh attack, teeth smashing as we kissed as if our lives depended on it.

The bell rung in the distance and we both groaned at the same time.

“I’m not done with you yet” he whispered to me again. “Can we have dinner together later? I want to talk.”

I gave Harry a gently kiss to the corner of his mouth and separated slightly to straighten my clothes. “We always have dinner together, remember?” I smiled mischievously at him.

He snorted as he straightened his clothes. “I know that, prat. I meant dinner outside of Hogwarts.”

I froze. “What, like a… date?” 

“Exactly like a date.” He said firmly.

We stared at each other a moment longer.

“Erm… ok?” I said.

He grinned at me. “No need to sound so enthusiastic Draco! I’ll see you at 5 then?”

I grinned right back at him. “5 is great.”

We must have looked ridiculous, both standing way too close and grinning together like idiots, but I didn’t care. I was going on a date – with Harry James FUCKING Potter!!”

“OK then, it’s a date.” He leant down towards me and I had a glorious flashback to last night as he leant down and kissed me tenderly on my cheek. “Have fun in class without me.”

“Actually, it was the wine that made it fun, you were just kind of there.” I couldn’t help but poke fun.

He just laughed. “I’ll remember that for tonight then, I’ll make sure there’s plenty of fancy wine for my poncy prat. And I’ll just be kind of there.”

My heart seemed to skip a beat. “Your poncy prat?”

He just winked at me “we’ll work out the details tonight.” He grabbed his bag and walked off to class, leaving my heart beating madly in his wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> Comments and Kudos are welcomed and encouraged!


	4. Date ready

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco gets some help in getting ready for his first date with Harry

“Your hair looks fine Draco! Just get dressed or you’ll be late!”

I glared at Pansy through the reflection in my mirror. Really, what was I thinking asking her for help in getting ready for my date with Harry when I was more than capable of getting presentable by myself.

Oh my God, a _date! I was going on a date with Harry Potter!_ I could practically hear all the laments of his fan club from my room. I wondered briefly how it would feel like to care for their feelings, but I would lie if I admitted I gave a damn.

With a final touch of the fanciest pomade I owned to my hair, I turned and faced Pansy and Blaise. I had asked them both for help in choosing what to wear, though in retrospect I shouldn’t have bothered. Pansy had taken literally all my clothes out of my wardrobe and thrown them across my room – there was a large pile on my bed, a larger one still on my desk, and several piles on my floor. Blaise though was not even paying attention to us, instead he was going through my stuff as if he was looking for something more valuable than life itself. His general nosiness used to annoy the fuck out of me, but after several years of suffering him as a roommate I had gotten used to it.

Familiarity definitely did _not_ breed contentment, I tried to convince myself.

When Pansy started riffling through my underwear I snapped my tether. I practically launched myself through the room and slammed that drawer shut.

“Pansy! You’re supposed to help me choose clothes, not my underwear I can choose that myself!” I snapped at her.

She simply raised an eyebrow in the most perfect arc I had ever witness (except maybe Headmistress McGonagall). “Underwear are clothes Draco, I didn’t think I would ever have to teach you that. Besides, don’t you want to impress Potter on your date?”

I just spluttered at her in indignation.

Blaise snorted from the corner. “Eloquent as always, dear Draco.”

I turned to him. “I don’t remember giving you permission to search my belongings Blaise, or have the Aurors asked you to search me?”

He smirked at me “I would focus on getting dressed if I were you, or have to not seen the time?”

I cast a Tempus and swore.

“ _Fuck_ we only have 15 minutes!” Pansy screeched and started throwing clothes at me. “Put all of these on, _quick!_ ”

Hastily I held onto the pair of trousers, the shirt and jumper she threw at me and turned to walk to the corner opposite Blaise, hoping for some privacy, which was unfortunately not granted.

“Don’t forget these!” Pansy yelled, and I turned around in time for a flying pair of boxers to hit me in the face, quickly followed by a neatly folded pair of socks.

“Merlin’s bollocks Pansy, I’m not changing my boxers!”

“But they match the shirt!” She protested from across the room. As I looked at my clothes I reluctantly had to admit she was right. I glanced backwards to make sure they weren’t looking at me and saw they were hunched together whispering frantically. I quickly changed and, yes, I changed my boxers too. I then stood in front of my mirror to inspect my outfit.

I had to admit that Pansy had nailed the outfit. I was wearing soft black trousers that hugged my butt in the most glorious way and a navy shirt that complimented my skin tone well (which meant my pants were now blue). Careful with my precious hair, I put on a grey jumper on top on took care in making m shirt collars peak out elegantly.

Blaise wolf-whistled behind me and Pansy snickered.

“You look _dashing_ Draco Malfoy!” Pansy fanned herself exaggeratedly.

“Simply _marvellous_!” Blaise wiggled his eyebrows and bit his lip in a rather disturbing way.

“I want to have your babies!” Pansy practically moaned, and the three of us roared with laughter.

“Merlin, you guys are so weird” I said, wiping a tear away from my eye.

“And that’s why you love us so much!” Blaise said. He walked up to me and caught me in a bear hug. “I hope your date goes well Draco, we would wait up to hear all about it but I’d rather sleep soundly through the night.”

Pansy giggled. “Now go Draco, we’ll sort out your room for tonight.” Her eyes glinted in a very Pansy-way and as quick as that my suspicion arose.

“Sort out my room _how_ , may I ask?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her.

“Nothing to worry about chap, just get going.” Blaise said, wrapping me in my favourite fur-lined cloak and practically strangling me with my scarf. “Just have a wonderful time, let me walk you out.”

“But…” I tried to speak but my scarf blocked out any words.

“See you tomorrow darling” Pansy said, tiptoeing up to place a kiss to my cheek, and she shooed us out of the room.

“Wait!” I tried to say again as Blaise walked me out of my room and into the common room.

Blaise ignored my protests as he spotted Harry and frog-marched me to him.

“Well, here’s the Malfoy you owl-ordered Potter” he said sarcastically and finally let me go. “Be good you two, and I want you both back by 9!”

Harry just gaped at him. “What?” He asked, confusion blooming on his face.

Blaise just patted his shoulder. “Just kidding Potter, I don’t give a fuck what time you get back. Just be quiet, I don’t want any _noises_ disturbing my beauty sleep.”

Harry snorted. “Don’t worry Zabini, at least I learnt how to cast privacy charms.”

Zabini laughed. “I’m glad someone learnt them. Well, have fun Potter, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do Mr D.” He winked at me and returned to the dormitories.

Harry just stared after him with his mouth slightly open and finally turned to me. “Is your nickname Mr D?” He asked me, surprising me too – was that really the first question he had for me?

“I guess so? That was literally the first time he’s ever called me that.”

Harry just laughed and turned to open the portrait, stepping back to allow me out first and we started walking towards the Entrance Hall. I looked at Harry and saw a smile playing on his lips and I asked him “what are you thinking?”

He shook his head slightly and looked at me. “My cousin’s nickname from his friends was Big D, that just reminded me.” He fell silent

I didn’t want to prod, but I couldn’t help my curiosity. “You don’t really talk of your relatives, what were they like?”

He fell silent again and I could feel I had touched a sore spot by the look of his face. “Sorry, Harry, it’s none of my business, just ignore –”

“It’s ok Draco, don’t worry. It’s just… they’re not the nicest of people.” He said quietly.

Boy, could I ever relate to that. “Family… they can be complicated.” I mumbled.

He let out the tiniest of snorts “complicated would be an understatement.”

I glanced at him and noticed how his hand was dangling by his side. Feeling a courage I’ve never had before, I reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a tiny squeeze. His eyes met mine and he smiled, giving my hand an answering squeeze.

We made it to the Entrance Hall and walked around the edges to the door. The noise coming from the Great Hall was loud, and there were several groups of younger students milling about and chatting excitedly with each other. Feeling the gazes of some on us, I gently tugged my hand away from Harry so as to not draw attention, but Harry gripped me firmly and lead me outside the Entrance.

Once we were outside and walking towards the gates Harry spoke. “My relatives never liked me. They were scared of my magic and tried to bully it out of me well before I ever found out I was a wizard.”

It took me a second to process that information. “Wait, what do you mean about finding out you were a wizard?”

“I found out on my 11th birthday I was a wizard, my aunt and uncle never told me growing up.”

I was shocked to learn that – _the_ Harry Potter didn’t know he was a wizard, when the entire wizarding world knew his name? “That’s just… wow.” I really didn’t know what to say to that.

“They thought if I never knew that I wouldn’t become one, I guess.”

I couldn’t help but snort at that. “I’m sorry, but how stupid is that?”

I saw him shake his head in quiet laughter. “I know, they really were ignorant in their hate.”

Talking about being ignorant, my father’s face bloomed to mind. “My father used to tell me elaborate stories in which the muggles were always the bad monsters. I believed that all muggles were evil, and they would kill wizards if they knew we existed. He was particularly fond of retelling witch hunt stories, muggles were always so cruel in those.”

Harry stayed silent for a while processing what I told him. “That… doesn’t surprise me” he said. “No wonder you hated muggles so much, if that’s what you’re taught growing up.”

A part of me never wanted to speak of this ever again, but I felt like I had to be completely honest with Harry, if only because he was the only person I felt comfortable enough in talking about this with. “Father used to say that muggleborns had earned their magic after killing a witch or wizard. He taught me there was no other logical way for magic to suddenly appear in a family. He believed that to align with muggleborns was like aligning with a demon. That’s why he joined the Dark Lord, he believed we needed to control the muggles before they had a chance to kill us all.”

Harry stayed quiet, but he reshuffled our hands so that our fingers entwined and he gripped it harder still. I almost didn’t dare to carry on, what if Harry would turn around and leave me, and never talk to me again?

“I was such an idiot, believing everything. So stupid” I could feel tears burn my eyes but I didn’t let them fall, I deserved the pain. “I should have questioned him, should have ignored him or something, I was so stupid…”

“Hey, hey, hey” Harry said, tugging us both to a stop and he turned me round to face him. “Don’t say that, how can a child ignore his parents?”

I stared down to the ground and didn’t reply. Harry just pulled me into a hug, holding me tightly. “It’s not your fault, Draco. None of it was” he whispered into my ear. “Don’t blame yourself for your parents’ mistakes, they’re not yours to pay for.”

“But I did pay, didn’t I?” I whispered back. “I believed them, I trusted my father and followed his footsteps. I because a fucking Death Eater because I believed it was the right thing to do!”

I tried to wiggle out of the comfort of Harry’s arms, but he didn’t let me. “It’s done, Draco. It’s all over. The fact that you see sense now means more than anything you blindly believed as a kid.”

I sagged slightly at his words and after a few seconds I hugged Harry back. We stood there together for a few minutes until I felt myself calm down. Harry was the first to pull back and for a brief second I thought he would call quits on our date, but he just smiled and gave me a lingering kiss on my lips.

“Are you feeling better?” He asked me gently.

I sniffed a bit and pulled a handkerchief out of my pocket, separating fully from Harry so I could blow my nose. “I’m sorry” I mumbled.

“What for?” He asked me, frowning.

“Well… I’m sure you don’t want to date a Death Eater, right? Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything to remind you –”

“Draco, please shut up” Harry smiled and hugged me again. “I haven’t forgotten that you were a Death Eater and I don’t care either way.” He placed a kiss on my lips and pulled back again to look me in my eyes. “The Mark doesn’t define you and I think I know you well enough to know that you don’t believe any of that nonsense anymore, right?”

I just stared at him and shook my head slightly.

“Good” he said and pulled away from me, grabbing my hand again and linking our fingers together. “Well if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to go back to our date, I’m starving.”

I couldn’t help but smile at him. “So, where are we going? To the Three Broomsticks?” I asked him.

He gave me a mischievous smile. “We’re not going to Hogsmead.”

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Where are we going, then?”

We passed the gates and headed into the village further and Harry said “we’re going to a little town not too far from here, a muggle town. Is that ok with you?”

I smiled at him. “As long as the food is good, I don’t mind.”

“Good, then. I’ll Apparate us there, are you ready?”

I nodded, and in a blink of the eye I was tugged into pressing darkness by Harry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> Comments and kudos are welcome


	5. Cheeky Nando's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry takes Draco on their first date

“Er… what the fuck is peri-peri?” I asked Harry, looking down at the menu.

“It’s the stuff of Gods, Draco. Trust me, you’ll love it.” He replies, not bothering to look up from the menu. I looked back down at the colourful menu, wondering what Harry was playing at in bringing me to a restaurant with colourful menus and décor. He _had_ to know this was way outside my comfort zone, right?

I was frowning at the menu when I heard Harry chuckle and I looked up to see him looking at me with amusement.

“Can I help you with anything Potter?” I asked him with a touch of Malfoy rudeness.

“I was wondering if you need help, actually. Is it your first time coming to Nando’s?” He casually asked.

“You must know it is” I said, rolling my eyes. “First off, this is a muggle place and I’m sure that over the years you might have gotten a hint that my family doesn’t appreciate muggle culture.”

He snorted in amusement.

“And secondly, I have never been to a restaurant with colourful menus.”

He spurted at that. “What, seriously? Never?”

“What kind of heathen do you think I truly am, Potter?” I teased at him, grinning when our eyes met. I looked back down at the menu and frowned at it. This menu was so confusing.

Harry seemed to understand and took pity on me. “In case you’re wondering what the chili meter is, when you choose what you want to eat you can make it as spicy as you want. But you don’t really like spicy, do you?”

“How do you know?” I asked suspiciously.

“I just know.” He gave me a small smile. “They have the sauces in bottles, so you can add spicier sauce separately if you want, but if I were you, I would go for ‘mango and passion fruit’. At least that’s Ginny’s and Hermione’s favourite sauce.

I bristled slightly at the mention of the Weaslette name, but ignored it for now, there was absolutely no need for me to get jealous of some red-haired harlot when I was the one currently on a date with Harry. Instead I went back to the menu and decided to have half a chicken with a side of salad and a portion of grains and nuts. I put my menu down and looked around, trying to make eye contact with a waiter to take our order.

“Do you know what you want then?” Harry asked me, pushing his chair back from the table.

“I do, yes” I said as I finally made eye contact with a waiter and flagged him over.

“Good evening, is everything alright?” Said the waiter, and Draco realised with a start that this waiter was barely older than he himself. Harry just looked at me, looking concerned and as if he was trying to contain his laughter.

“Draco…” he said.

“Yes, we would like to order.” I told the waiter confidently.

This kid looked confused as he stood there, and didn’t say anything as if he was expecting me to continue talking. When I didn’t, he simply said “OK? Is this your first time in Nando’s?”

What a weird question. I looked at Harry, hoping for some help, but he looked like he could barely contain himself.

“Draco, when you’re ready to order you go to the counter and order there. Do you know what you want?” he asked me again.

“Er, I do.” I was so confused.

“Alright then, well I will leave it to it then guys.” Said the waiter, barely waiting for a response before he hurried off.

Harry stood up and waited for me to get up with him.

“What kind of weird place did you bring me to, Potter?” I asked as I stood. What kind of fucked up restaurant made its customers queue up to order food to be brought to them to their table?! “Why are we queueing again?”

The ‘restaurant’ was packed full of muggles of all ages – families, couples, groups of friends both adults and kids, you name it. There was even an old couple far out in the corner, a man and woman that seemed to be in their late 70s or 80s, and it looked like they were having a date night too. It had taken us nearly half an hour to get seated, so the idea of queueing once more did not thrill me at all. But the smell was good, I’d admit that much. The food better be worth it.

“You’ll enjoy your food Draco, don’t worry. What is it you want to eat?”

By the time I finished relaying my order to him, it was out turn to order. We approached a lady at the counter with bright pink hair and covered in tattoos. As Harry gave her a table number (whatever that meant) and handed her a plastic card, she reached out with her arm and, beautifully tattooed on her forearm there was a ferret.

I felt Harry tense next to me as we both saw it, and our eyes met at the same time as a horrible memory of deep trauma flashed through my mind.

“That’s a lovely tattoo” Harry said, as if he couldn’t help himself, and as the lady noticed what he meant she let out a laugh like a bird.

“Thank you! She’s my pet ferret, her name is Lucy. You can’t tell from the tattoo, but her coat is pure white.”

Harry’s eyes twinkled as he looked over at me and I rolled my eyes at him. He completed his order and we returned to the table with our drinks and cutlery. This was the first time I had ever had to pick up my own drink and cutlery in a ‘restaurant’, I still wasn’t convinced by this Nando’s.

We chatted idly whilst watching the muggles around us until our food arrived. Harry had also ordered half a chicken with hot sauce, and a massive plate of chips, which he immediately attacked. I looked at my chicken and back at Harry, sceptical on the quality. Harry and I made eye contact and he raised a questioning eyebrow at my hesitation. Without comment, I picked up my knife and fork, and carefully cut off a piece of chicken breast. I sniffed it, which made Harry laugh, and quickly put the piece of chicken in my mouth.

Flavours burst on my tongue, so intense and so _good_ that I couldn’t help but moan. I dug into my meal with far too much enthusiasm, but I could not bring myself to give a flying fuck. Even the salad and grains were nice, but I did find myself eyeing Harry’s chips often, so much so that he offered his plate to me, which I ‘gracefully’ accepted with a mouth full of chicken.

We ate mostly in silence, revelling in the flavours. The chatter from other patrons was persistent and I noticed that the queue of people waiting for a table was even longer than when we had arrived – clearly this Nando’s was very popular and even though I hated to admit it, it was already becoming one of my favourite restaurants.

As we slowed down with our eating the conversation picked up. We talked about our different classes and shared stories and laughed together. I told Harry a story of how Pansy, Blaise and I had once tried to sneak into the Ravenclaw common room because we had heard that Terry Boot had smuggled a crate of Firewhiskey in, but we couldn’t get past the riddle the door sang to us, _“What goes up but never goes back down?”_ because we couldn’t stop giggling. Harry couldn’t contain his laughter as I told him how it took a very confused and worried third year to mumble “your age” to the door for it to finally open.

Harry wiped a tear of mirth from his eye. “Oh my God Draco, when did that happen?”

“Beginning of sixth year” I replied. “You know… before everything.”

Harry smiled gently at me and took my hand. “Do you want to go out for a walk before we head back?”

I nodded and we put our coats on before walking out. Harry had brought me to a small town that I assumed was still in Scotland. The streets were quiet as we walked through them, and made it to a small river that waded through the town. We talked more and shared other stories, even a bonkers one about Harry and Hermione rescuing that damnable Hippogriff of Hagrid’s back in third year and giving him over to Sirius Black for his escape. Coming from anyone else I wouldn’t have believed a single word, but knowing Harry and his penchant for being involved in highly improbable scenarios I knew it would be true.

I noticed Harry shiver as the night grew colder, so without thinking much I wrapped my arm around his shoulders as we walked. He let out a gentle sigh that I would have missed had we not been so close, and he put his arm around my waist and squeezed me to him. We walked like that in silence by the river until we reached a tiny little bridge. Without verbal agreement, we both stopped in the middle of the arch of the bridge and looked to the water, which made a gentle trickling sound and reflected the light of the streetlamps and the moon. It really was quite romantic.

Harry turned towards me and wrapped both arms around my waist as he looked into my eyes. He was only a few inches shorter than me, but the way he carried himself around made him seem taller and it was always a surprise to have to lean down to see him.

He smiled at me “I had a lovely time with you, Draco.”

I smiled back and tried to ignore my heartbeat going mental against my ribs. “I did too, Harry.”

“I’d like to do this again.”

“Go on another date you mean?”

Harry rolled his eyes “yes Draco, I want to date you.”

I swallowed hard, my heart seemed to be trying to jump out of my throat.

“I think I would like that very much.” I whispered.

His answering smile was so full of happiness I couldn’t help grinning back. He leaned his face close to mine, our lips almost brushing together when he whispered, “my boyfriend” and kissed me, tentatively, as my eyes fell shut. He pulled away and it took me a second to pull myself together and open my eyes to look at him. I smiled at him and leant down to kiss him again.

The softness of his lips contrasted with the sharpness of his teeth as he bit my lip. As I gasped his tongue entered my mouth and licked mine tentatively before we both furiously began snogging each other. One of my hand gripped him by the back of his neck and the other held onto the collar of his coat, pulling him against me as close as we could be. I slanted my face just slightly to kiss him deeper and he moaned in appreciation and tightened his arms around my back.

We were perfectly lined up, from our legs to our chests and it took me a bit too long to realise that we were snogging out in the open for anyone to see, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. This was what I had been fantasising about for a while and it was so amazing being with Harry finally, feeling his hard body pressed against mine, his breath on my lips and his fingers grasping my hips as if his life depended on it.

I separated my lips in a gasp to breath and his lips immediately went to my jaw, kissing and licking his way to my ear.

“Do you want to head back?” He whispered.

I pulled back slightly to look him in the eyes and saw them glowing with a need that stirred my cock to full attention. I nodded, unsure that my voice might break if I tried to speak.

“Let’s go then” he said. He leant in for a quick kiss and we Apparated back to Hogsmeade. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long, life got in the way! Hope you enjoy the story so far :)
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are welcome.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! This is my first ever fanfic, so comments will be welcomed. This story has been in the back of my mind for a while and I have finally grown the hypothetical balls to write and post it. I hope you like it :)


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